4 Big Reasons the D.C. Area's New Super Bridge Took One of America's Top Engineering Honors

Oct 1, 2009

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) announced on Wednesday night the winner of its annual award for Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement. This is arguably the most prestigious of the various awards presented by the ASCE—past recipients have included highly visible projects like New York's JFK Airport and the restoration of the Statue of Liberty, as well as lesser-known efforts, such as an addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum. This year, the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement winner is the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge, which spans the Potomac River, linking Maryland and Virginia.

For commuters who drive on and around the Capital Beltway every day, both the scope and the potential impact of this project are old news. The previous bridge was responsible for one of the most congested bottlenecks in the nation, with twice the number of accidents on average, compared to other interstates. Some of that was due to an explosion of activity—when the four-lane bridge was built in 1961, it was designed to handle 75,000 vehicles per day, for 20 years. That capacity was reached in just eight years, and the demand has grown to 200,000 trips daily today. According to current estimates, the number could reach 300,000 by 2020. For decades, the old bridge was responsible for extended delays, due to its size—the Beltway has eight lanes, while the bridge had six—and location. With just 50 feet of clearance, the bridge had to be opened on a frequent basis to allow ships to pass.

The new bridge not only promises to untangle some of the traffic on the Beltway, but to serve as something of a role model for other large-scale infrastructure projects around the country (bridges are already getting smarter and stronger by the minute, from San Francisco to Minneapolis). In our ongoing efforts to cover the crisis in American infrastructure, we visited the construction site for the new bridge. Here are some the project's most impressive features. —Erik Sofge, with reporting by Erin McCarthy

Efficient Design

The new bridge will have 12 lanes in total, eight general purpose lanes and two lanes for merging. It sits higher than the old bridge, providing 70 ft. of clearance for ships (20 ft. more than the previous bridge). According to the Federal Highway Administration, that could mean opening the span—and stopping traffic—65 times per year, compared to 260 before. Building a taller bridge might sound like a simple decision, but when earlier plans called for even more clearance, the local community worried about obstructed views of the Potomac. The result was a compromise. In a perfect world, that sort of communication between builders and customers wouldn't be worth noting. But in the realm of infrastructure mega-projects, it merits a standing ovation.

Under Budget, Ahead of Schedule

The entire project, which runs for 7.5 miles, and includes four interchanges as well as the bridge, won't be fully completed until 2011. But in terms of construction deadlines and projected costs, this is a massive, $2.5 billion undertaking that has consistently come in both under budget, and ahead of schedule. According to ASCE President David Mongan, the initial bid called for additional funding. "So they got experts from around the country, including the head of the Department of Transportation in Utah, when Salt Lake had the Olympics, to make recommendations for how the project could be repackaged, and rebid," says Mongan. Compared to other mega-projects, Mongan says the results have been highly successful. Meticulous planning and management have reined in the kind of late-stage spending and missed deadlines that tend to plague similarly massive projects, such as Boston's Big Dig.

Community Involvement

It wasn't just the height of the new bridge that members of the community weighed in on. Before construction began in 2000, the public was asked to play a major role in the project. This wasn't simply municipal lip service—at every stage, the community has been involved. The public picked the current design out of seven choices. And when it was time to demolish the original structure, a contest was held to find a disgruntled commuter to help. The winner, Daniel Ruefly, triggered the detonation in August of 2006, while the public watched in vicarious appreciation. Even in 2007, with the new bridge partially open for traffic, the public was still being included. "People are inquiring via e-mail. People call," Alex Lee, community relations manager for the bridge told Popular Mechanics in September of last year. "We have public hours on Fridays, so people can actually walk in anytime, if they want to ask questions, look at the plans, or anything. Taking a proactive approach, rather than a reactive approach, has helped our project immensely."

Environmental Impact

By using the old bridge as a trestle during construction, planners avoided dredging as much as six acres, which would have risked destroying a large swath of underwater vegetation. When the old bridge was destroyed, inert debris, such as steel and concrete, was used to help create new fish reefs in the Chesapeake Bay. Engineers installed "fish ladders" to help re-open more than 35 miles of spawning grounds. Additionally, some 22 acres of river grasses, 100 acres of wetlands, and 140 acres of forest were planted or preserved in Virginia and Maryland. According to ASCE, it was one of the most ambitious attempts to offset the environment costs of a large-scale infrastructure project. "This bridge is an example of a very successful win win win," says Mongan. "It shows that you can address community concerns, and environmental concerns, and still meet the project's needs." If there's a right way to rebuild America, this is it.

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